


But you had the chance

by Radiation



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Dancing, Final Battle, Gen, canon compliant??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 19:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2824091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radiation/pseuds/Radiation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuvira pulled herself out of the hull of the mecha head and charged towards Korra again. This entire moment felt choreographed. She would defeat the Avatar, she would take Republic City, she would complete the empire. It was meant to be. Until it all unraveled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But you had the chance

**Author's Note:**

> kuvira is a dancer before she's a figher  
> or i guess it's one in the same  
> i don't dance for the record i just relate a weird amount to kuvira

Korra was the perfect person to dance with. Not the first time, that was jagged and raw, and had it not been for those little air bastards, she would’ve won. But, now that the Avatar had picked up all her lost pieces, the timing was perfect. _5, 6, 7, kick._

She could feel the music swelling around her. Or was that just the blood pumping in her ears? It didn’t matter anymore. Kuvira bended everything she could in sight, dodging the attacks launched at her. She tore the machine apart, knowing it was already dying. But that didn’t matter, she could still fight even without the weapon. She defeated Korra once before, it would just be a longer fight this time.

 _1, 2, 3, strike._ The metal and air were opposing elements to a degree she never encountered before. They knew each other’s moves before they even began. Korra knew nothing of control. Her moves were blunt, harsh. The sharpening of blades, the liquid metal propelled, had a little bit more finesse to it. When they hit each other simultaneously, knocked back into opposite ends of the pilot room, Kuvira wished they had danced together all those years ago in Zaofu. Before the Earth kingdom fell to ruin and the empire rose. Maybe she would know a few more of the Avatar’s weak spots. Maybe she would have surrendered.

That wouldn’t change this moment though. Kuvira pulled herself out of the hull of the mecha head and charged towards Korra again. This entire moment felt choreographed. She would defeat the Avatar, she would take Republic City, she would complete the empire. It was meant to be.

Until it all unraveled. They were never meant to get to the engine room. The mecha was never meant to destabilize. It was one thing to not have the arm, but not having the spirit energy contained was an entirely different realm of wrong. _5, 6, 7, fall._

Why was she being pulled out of the wreckage? Kuvira was never good at improv and that was all Korra seemed to do. She breathed slowly, trying to ignore the sharp pain in her side. A couple of broken ribs. At least her lung wasn’t punctured.

“It’s over. You’re going to call of your army and surrender to President Raiko.” Ha. Did she forget who she was dealing with? Kuvira never quit. She never left a job unfinished. Whether it be the empire or destroying the avatar.

She bended a brick over and got up precariously. Korra always took so long to recover. Three years away from her duties. A couple seconds too long after a hit. It gave Kuvira enough time to stabilize herself before she ran. _1, 2, 1, 2, in, out._

The spirit wilds were immense. They looked so small from up above, but she felt herself immersed. She wanted to run, to get back to her troops, but she could barely breathe. Maybe her lung did get hit.

“Kuvira, give up!” She ground her teeth. _In, out._

“Never,” she said to the air. She wasn’t even sure if Korra could hear her. This wasn’t how the dance was supposed to go. It was supposed to be flawless, ending with a finale of metal going into the Avatar’s heart, and the crowd would cheer over the conquest finally ended. With the United Republic, the empire would be whole. With war, they could work towards peace. But all her plans seemed to be falling to shambles.

She stumbled in front of a wall of vines and pushed it away. Her spirit weapon. She felt her heart quicken at the sight of it. It was fate. It was right. She had missed a couple of the steps along the way, but the dance could resume.

Korra called out for her again, but this time she yelled back despite the pain in her chest. She wouldn’t expect the spirit weapon this time. Kuvira had the high ground once again. She shot up to the controls and waited. The look on Korra’s face was priceless.

“Now it’s over.”

_1, 2, 3, kill._

She would get the aim on the mecha reworked incase she needed it again. It wasn’t perfect, and Korra was fast, but at least she could follow her with the beam. This was the last chance she had, and she knew it. Her troops had no clue where she was, and she knew Korra intended to kill her in the end. One of them would meet their end today.

And another plan fell apart. The vines shouldn’t have worked against the arm, but they did. They glowed like they were being zapped with energy in a lab and make her miss her target yet again. _In, out, in, out. You can control this._

She’s thrown around like a rag doll, clutching the control panel on the arm.

“Shut it down!” She tried, she really did, but it took on a life of its own.

“I can’t!” _I can’t control this. I can’t win. I can’t, I can’t, I--_

She fell of the panel. She tumbled, and the music she heard before just turned into the ever menacing hum of the spirit weapon. There was no beat to follow, there was nothing she could hold onto. The ground beneath her was the only stable thing left, and even that would soon be destroyed.

 _The spirits are trying to murder me._ She didn’t think this would be how it ended. Not like this, barely able to breathe, killed by her own design. She thought Korra would be weaker, like she had been the last time. Kuvira thought her armor was impenetrable. She thought she would be predator, not prey. But she was neither.

The Avatar state was something to behold. She couldn’t tell if Korra was bending an air bubble around them or bending the spirit energy itself. She managed to stay awake for a few more moments. Kuvira wondered, half conscious, why Korra hadn’t killed her yet. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the spirit world. 


End file.
